ANAHEIM – Contrary to reports, Ryan Getzlaf actually has been through a dive similar to the one the Ducks are spiraling in at the moment.

During his rookie season of 2005-06, the Ducks once avoided victory for eight consecutive games.

So, what happened to end that nightmare?

“We got sent back to the minors,” Getzlaf said Saturday.

Oh.

A demotion to the AHL isn’t likely this time seeing how Getzlaf now is the team’s No. 1 center and captain.

Then again, given the results the Ducks keep spitting up, there isn’t much security around here for anyone. Come to think of it, did anybody see Wild Wing last game?

In case you missed it, too, the Ducks lost Friday when they dramatically came from ahead, allowing Chicago to score three times in the span of two minutes, 29 seconds of the third period.

And, in case you missed it, Merry Christmas! That was your gift to yourself. The scene at Honda Center featured everything but yellow police tape, Getzlaf punctuating the mess by snapping his stick over one of the crossbars.

Yeah, it was a moment of emphatic punctuation, a four-letter exclamation point. Something like “#&%@!!!”

“It’s weird,” Getzlaf said. “When things roll, they roll with you or they roll against you. It’s a terrible feeling when you’re out there. It’s not good.”

Among the many things startling about this freefall, the most ominous is the totality of the failure. This has been one comprehensive collapse.

The Ducks are malfunctioning all over the ice, from goal line to goal line, from bench to penalty box. And now the losses have mounted to where defeat has them rattled from ear to ear.

The losing has heaped doubt upon the management of Bob Murray upon the coaching of Randy Carlyle and upon the captaincy of Getzlaf. Not to mention upon every other facet you care to name.

Although an NHL veteran, Getzlaf is still only 26 and might be suffering through growing pains. The growth will take awhile to identify; the pain already is clearly evident.

Either way, now is when the Ducks need Getzlaf to prove that the “C” on his jersey has been earned, not just awarded.

The last time he experienced something comparable to this, no one was leaning on him for direction. Now, each of Getzlaf’s teammates is looking his way – and the image they’ve seen hasn’t always been that of a leader.

It was Getzlaf who Friday lost the puck behind his own net, leading to what became the Blackhawks’ tying goal in the third period.

That was the misplay that prompted him to kill an otherwise innocent hockey stick.

“It’s not so much as the captain, it’s more as one of the leaders in this room,” Getzlaf said when asked if he feels an additional burden these days. “Everyone who knows me knows that I’m competitive and want to win. I’m never happy when we’re doing anything like we’re doing right now.”

Today against Toronto would be a great time for Getzlaf’s competitiveness to show itself as leadership. If a group ever needed to be clutched by the collar and shown how it’s done, it is these drifting Ducks.

That’s especially true when adversity visits, something that happens in nearly every NHL game. Lately, the Ducks have treated the first hint of misfortune like a fire in the cockpit.

“I expect the same start we had last game,” Getzlaf said. “We’re going to come out and be energized to play. We just have to draw on our past and learn how to win again.”

If they need more motivation, there’s this: On Saturday, the Islanders beat New Jersey to push their point total to 16, matching the Ducks. So, at this moment, we can officially report that only one NHL team – Columbus, with 15 – has fewer points than the Ducks do.

When they opened the season 4-1, the Ducks had won 19 of their previous 25 regular season games dating to last year. Since then, they’ve won twice in 17 tries. Corners that sharp usually are marked with a blinking yellow light.

If they lose again today, they’ll have only two victories in a stretch longer than six weeks.

“We know how to win,” Getzlaf said. “We’ve gotta get that mentality back in our locker room. Our core of guys, we’ve been through winning streaks. That stuff doesn’t happen by accident.”

Right now, the Ducks need it to happen by any means. By fate. By luck. By act of God.

Better still, how about by act of Getzlaf? Nothing was expected of him when the Ducks lost their way six years ago. Today, his team is counting on more, more direction than it’s getting from him right now.

Jeff Miller has been a sports columnist since 1998, having previously written for the Palm Beach Post, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald. He began at the Register in 1995 as beat writer for the Angels.

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